Data Centre

Education, Education, Education! UCISA has posed the questions, SCC believes it has the answers

Liverpool, 10 March 2009:  We can provide the answers to your immediate IT challenges, that is the message, for attendees of the UCISA 2009 Annual Management Conference, 11 - 13 March, at the BT Conference Centre, Liverpool, at which SCC will have a major presence.

UCISA – the Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association - has raised a number of issues in its wide-ranging Top Concerns Survey. And many of these might well extend to businesses of all types. On the key challenges identified, there is particular focus on the Data Centre.

The survey found:

“Some institutions are experiencing difficulty providing the environment – cooling, power, backup power, physical security, fire detection and suppression – needed to host their IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, networking and equipment. Not least because more than one Data Centre is too often required to best manage a disaster recovery scenario. This is because systems handling large amounts of education-related research data can make significantly higher demands of their networks, than those in other sectors. Predicting future requirements for Data Centres can also be a significant issue and flexibility is key.

“Some institutions are looking to out-source the location of some of their infrastructure, whilst others are considering setting up a shared Data Centre service. A number of institutions have facilities that are no longer fit for purpose, whilst others are finding it difficult to fund refurbishment or replacement to the standards required. Inadequate Data Centres represent a considerable risk to the provision of reliable IT/IS services.”

Nick Russell, Divisional Director for Education at SCC, explains how the unique needs of the education sector might best be handled:

“We have a two-way approach to solving these problems. First, by reducing the amount of servers an organisation has through consolidation techniques and use of virtualisation strategies. Or we can work with a customer to best utilise their current facilities. Alternatively, if they prefer, we can look after everything for them. In all cases, we will add value and save money.”

He said the sort of questions frequently asked by CIOs in the Higher Education sector were:

• How do I join up our professional services with the IT infrastructure;
• Ensure business continuity and reliability of key services, when we’re lacking the latest technical skills;
• Step up to the ever increasing demands of our students, research groups and staff - when it feels as though our infrastructure is falling apart at the seams;
• Access resources from anywhere, whilst innovating to capitalise on collaboration and shared services.

“The answer is that we can work as an efficient extension of the internal resource, provide 24x7 international service support and fast access to skills across core competencies in HP, VMware, MS, VDI, Pegasus and Symantec. We achieve this whilst removing cost and maximising your productivity. In short, we offer peace of mind,” said Nick Russell.

The premier IT event for UK universities and colleges, the UCISA 2009 Annual Management Conference boasts an array of experts and keynote speakers from the UK and overseas. It will be opened by Professor Steve Kenny, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Development) of Liverpool John Moores University, whilst a flagship dinner, at the newly refurbished St George’s Hall, features John Sergeant, political commentator, elder statesman of the BBC and a recent star of Strictly Come Dancing!

For further information about UCISA’s Top Concerns survey, click here

About UCISA
Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association represents almost all the major UK universities and higher education colleges and has a growing membership among further education colleges, other educational institutions and commercial organisations interested in information systems and technology in UK education, providing a network of contacts and a powerful lobbying voice.
 

UCISA exists to promote excellence in the application of information systems and services in support of teaching, learning, research and administration in higher and further education. An open, impartial and representative association, it provides a national and international presence for the people who make information systems and services work. It helps them to share best practice, maximise cost effectiveness, develop ideas and inform and support policy making within their institution, nationally and internationally.

http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/